Bin Laden documents to go online Thursday

6,000+ documents seized in raid

By Joe Sterling/CNN

3:45 PM, May 1, 2012

3:49 PM, May 1, 2012

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ABBOTTABAD, PAKISTAN - MAY 3: People gather outside Osama Bin Laden's compound, where he was killed during a raid by U.S. special forces, May 3, 2011 in Abottabad, Pakistan. Bin Laden was killed during a U.S. military mission May 2, at the compound. According to reports May 4, 2011, the Obama administration has decided not to release photographs of Bin Laden's body. (Photo by Getty Images)

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BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA - JANUARY 11: A Crew member stands on the flight deck of Aircraft Carrier USS Carl Vinson whilst at anchor in Busan port on January 11, 2011 in Busan. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

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A mural honoring firefighters killed on 9/11 is seen outside the World Trade Center.

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NEW YORK, NY - MAY 02: FDNY firefighters look on from atop their truck as people celebrate in Times Square after the death of accused 9-11 mastermind Osama bin Laden was announced by U.S. President Barack Obama May 2, 2011 in New York City. A special force led operation has killed Osama Bin Laden in a house outside Islamabad in Pakistan and his body is in U.S. custody. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

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AMMAN, JORDAN - SEPTEMBER 10: This is a still image taken from a video tape aired on Al-Jazeerah station September 10, 2003 that shows Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in an unspecified location.

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DEATH OF BIN LADEN: President Barack Obama announced May 1 that the United States had killed the most-wanted terrorist Osama Bin Laden in an operation led by U.S. Special Forces in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

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For the first time, the general public will be able to see a number of the 6,000-plus documents seized in last year's raid on Osama bin Laden's compound.

The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point said it will release the material online Thursday at 9 a.m. ET.

John Brennan, President Barack Obama's top counterterrorism adviser, announced the release in remarks Monday to the Woodrow Wilson Center on Counterterrorism.

The center, an academic institution at the U.S. Military Academy in New York, said it plans to release original versions in Arabic and translations in English.

"The CTC will issue a short report contextualizing the documents and providing an overview of their most salient themes," the center said.

U.S. Navy SEALs killed the al-Qaida leader in the raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and seized reams of material described by scholars and officials as a "treasure trove."

The dramatic and historic assault took place in the early morning hours of May 2, Pakistan-time; while it was late May 1 in Washington. It ended a nearly 10-year hunt for the elusive militant, who headed the terror network that attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.

The CTC didn't say which and how many documents will be released.

Peter Bergen, CNN's national security analyst and author of "Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden From 9/11 to Abbottabad," said he reviewed some of the documents for his research. They are declassified memos written by bin Laden and his subordinates.

"The only documents that will be released are the ones that I was able to review," he said Tuesday. "Bottom line is, this will be several hundred pages only."

In a CNN column Tuesday adapted from the book, Bergen called bin Laden "an inveterate micromanage." He said bin Laden was under the "delusion" that his group "could still force a change" in U.S. foreign policy if it was able to pull off another major strike.

"The memos paint a picture of an organization that understood it was in deep danger from the American drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal regions that had been decimating its leadership since summer 2008," Bergen said.

Brennan said one conclusion that can be reached from the documents is that al-Qaida "has had trouble replacing" field commanders "being lost so quickly." He's referring to the killing and capturing of those fighters.

"For example, bin Laden worried about -- and I quote -- "the rise of lower leaders who are not as experienced,' and this would lead to the repeat of mistakes," Brennan said.